


All I Want For Christmas

by makkurataichou



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Advent Calendar, M/M, Mikleo as a mall Santa, Santa Claus - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 09:37:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makkurataichou/pseuds/makkurataichou
Summary: With his uncle away for the holidays, Mikleo is forced to take his place at his part time job as a mall Santa.





	All I Want For Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> I’m over a week late and not 100% satisfied with this, but here’s my prompt for the Sormik Advent Calendar, for the theme Santa Claus!

“Lailah, I can’t do this.”

The silver haired woman gave him a pleading look. “Please, Mikleo? Your uncle had to back out and you’re the only one here who can pull that costume off.”

He shook his head. “Even if I fit into that...suit, there’s no way I could pass for Santa Claus,” he insisted. “I’m too skinny and I don’t look like an old man.”

“The beard will hide most of your face!” Lailah countered cheerfully, delicately placing the classic red and white hat atop his head. “And if you need to look bigger, we have plenty of pillows in the cabin. Michael usually uses some of those.”

“Forget it, Lailah,” came Edna’s voice from inside the cabin. “Meebo’s just making excuses. He’d turn you down even if he was twenty years older and two hundred pounds heavier.”

Mikleo shot her a glare through the window. “H-hey! I just don’t want to be caught in that costume...especially not on camera! It’s so embarrassing.”

“Hmph. Chicken.” Edna placed her hands on her hips and let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “I guess all the kids who show up to sit on Santa’s lap are going to be disappointed this year.”

“Edna…” Mikleo knew she was teasing, but he still felt his chest clench slightly at that thought. The mall they worked at was often busy during the holiday season, and the thought of disappointing droves of children made him feel extremely guilty. It wasn’t as though he had any other plans for the rest of the day anyway—wearing a ridiculous costume and sitting in a chair for a few hours didn’t seem too bad if it meant helping his friends for a good cause.

“Alright, fine,” he conceded, adjusting the hat atop his head. “But I won’t wear the beard or use the pillows. It’ll just be me in a Santa suit.”

Lailah’s smile grew wide. “That’s more than enough!” she exclaimed, ushering him into the cabin. “Now, go get dressed! We open in fifteen minutes!”

Edna ducked out of the cabin, fully clad in festive gear, just as Mikleo was shoved past her. “Something tells me we won’t just be getting kids this year,” she said with a grin, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Just sit there and be yourself, Meebo, and you’ll be drawing customers in no time.”

Mikleo blanched. He had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

 Sorey loved the holidays. Whether it was the lights on the streets, the decorations at school, or having days off to spend with his friends and family, he treasured every single day.

Another thing Sorey loved was holiday shopping. Seeing his mother and grandfather’s eyes sparkle when they opened his presents never failed to bring him joy. So, when Rose suggested they visit the local mall and shop for presents together, he was more than happy to agree.

“Do you think Alisha will like this?” she asked, pointing towards a large cat plushie. “It’s cute and it’ll match the rest of her stuff.”

Sorey scrunched up his nose. “It is cute, but I think Alisha might appreciate something more practical. Like, uh, a tool kit?”

Rose laughed. “Maybe I’ll get her two things,” she conceded, picking up the plush toy. “If she doesn’t like this little guy, I’ll just use him as a pillow when I’m sleeping over at her place.”

She motioned for him to stay put, then dashed over to a different isle and returned a few minutes later with a small pouch in hand. “A travel makeup kit!” she declared, placing it in her basket beside the cat. “That’s stylish _and_ practical, right?”

Sorey shrugged. “I guess so.”

As the cashier rang her up, Rose turned to Sorey. “So now that we’re done with the girly stuff, where do you want to go? The video game store? Nah, I bet you’d rather visit the bookstore first, huh?”

“Actually, I wanted to check the department store for a new kettle for Gramps,” Sorey replied. “He could really use an electric one, the stove top takes too long.”

“Oh.” Rose eyes glinted dangerously. “I know the way.”

“I do too, it’s upstairs and we just need to take the elevator—hey!”

He was cut off by her grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the store towards the center of the mall.

* * *

When Rose finally brought them to a stop, Sorey realized they were standing in front of a giant mall Santa setup, complete with a giant cabin and fake reindeer. It was more detailed than he could’ve expected, and he found himself impressed, but he still had no real idea why Rose had dragged him all the way out here.

“I have some friends working here this year, and I wanted to meet them,” Rose explained suddenly, almost as if she’d heard his thoughts. “Also, there’s a surprise for you,” she added, leaning in with a sly look on her face. “Take a look around and see if you can figure out what it is.”

Sorey raised an eyebrow, but glanced around nevertheless. The large plastic candy canes were a nice touch, he supposed, as was the cabin painted to look like gingerbread, and the person sitting in Santa’s chair who looked suspiciously like Mikleo—

His thoughts came screeching to a halt. Mikleo, the boy from school he’d had a crush on for weeks, was sitting right in front of him wearing the most unflattering Santa suit he’d ever seen in his life. The jacket hung off of Mikleo like he was a coat rack, he wasn’t wearing a beard, and there was a reindeer headband atop his hat for some reason, but Sorey still thought he looked incredibly handsome with his calm, intelligent eyes surveying the crowd and a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

“Like what you see?”

Sorey jumped at the sound of Edna’s voice. “I-I’m just waiting for Rose,” he told her defensively, his eyes wandering back to Mikleo. “She said she wanted to visit you guys, but if she’d just said something she wouldn’t have had to drag me here…”

Edna smirked. “Do you want to sit on his lap?” she teased. “We’ve been getting a lot of moms this year. It’s a little creepy.”

He blanched. “Moms have been sitting on his lap?”

“Yup, and pinching his cheeks, and patting his head. He’s pretty sick of it, and I don’t blame him.” She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, seeing you would probably be a relief to him.”

Sorey’s eyes grew wide. “Y-you think so?” he asked, suddenly hopeful. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass him or anything…”

“Trust me, he's already pretty embarrassed. You won’t be making it any worse.”

Sorey clenched and unclenched his fists, carefully considering the idea. “Tell...tell Rose to wait for me,” he said finally, looking out at the long line behind the cabin. “This might take a while.”

* * *

Mikleo was frustrated. All he’d done was sit in a chair for an hour, and he was already exhausted. His cheeks hurt from smiling, and then from being pinched and prodded by children and parents alike. He didn’t know how his uncle did it for four hours on end—at this point, he just wanted to go home.

“H-hey, Mikleo!”

He froze and looked up at the front of the line, where Sorey was standing and waving to him as enthusiastically as always.

Mikleo wanted to vanish. He wished he could just sink further and further into his seat until it swallowed him whole. Not only had one of his classmates found him, it was Sorey, the bright (and undeniably cute) transfer student he’d been mentoring for the past several weeks. Mikleo would be lying if he said he didn’t have a slight crush on the boy, and the thought of Sorey seeing him like this was completely mortifying. However, he also couldn’t deny that it was a bit of a relief seeing a familiar face in such a large crowd.

Sorey walked over to him, a shy grin on his face. “You look great!” he said quickly, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked adorable.

Mikleo rolled his eyes. “As great as ever in an outfit built for someone three times my size,” he said dryly.

Sorey laughed in response and it made Mikleo’s stomach flutter. “It still suits you though! Especially the ears.”

Despite himself, Mikleo blushed. “Th-thanks, Sorey,” he said lamely, averting his eyes. “Did you, um, want to sit?”

“O-oh...yeah, sure,” the brunet replied, awkwardly taking a step forward and seating himself slowly in Mikleo’s lap. “I hope I’m not too heavy.”

He wasn’t. In fact, Sorey’s body was warm against his, and Mikleo tightened his grip on the armrests in an attempt to stop himself from burrowing himself further into that warmth.

He shook his head. “So, young man, what do you want for Christmas?” he asked, slipping into his usual teasing tone. “A toy train? A stuffed prickleboar? Or maybe...the first two volumes of the Celestial Record?”

Sorey looked at him, eyes sparkling. “Did you really?”

Mikleo huffed. “You’ll find out at Rose’s party. But—” He smiled faintly and looked up to meet those eyes. “You were so excited about them, it was hard not to.”

The look on Sorey’s face grew extremely fond, and Mikleo suddenly found himself shy under that gaze. “Thank you, Mikleo,” came his quiet response. “I didn’t get you anything, I’m so sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mikleo smiled. “I got them because they reminded me of you. It’s no big deal.”

“Still…there has to be something…” Sorey scrunched up his nose. “Ah, wait, I’ve got it!”

“Seriously, Sorey, it’s fine—”

“What I want for Christmas is to spend one day with you.”

Mikleo started at him, jaw going slack. “W-what?”

Sorey beamed. “I want to spend one day with you,” he repeated, “and treat you to a bunch of stuff to make up for not getting you a present. Do you like movies? Candy? Oh, we could go to the bookstore too!”

“Sorey.” Mikleo was blushing furiously now. “Are you...did you just ask me out?”

The brunet froze, the implication of what he’d said hitting him like a massive toy train. “I guess I did,” he admitted , suddenly unable to look Mikleo in the eye. “I mean, the offer still stands, but if you don’t want it to be a date…”

“N-no!” Mikleo exclaimed so quickly that Sorey nearly fell off his lap with surprise. “No,” he repeated. “I just wanted to make sure you were sure.”

Sorey’s expression grew hopeful. “Then...you’ll go?”

Mikleo scoffed, his cheeks still dusted pink. “Of course I’ll go. I wouldn’t pass up an offer like that for anything.”

He looked up at Sorey, a challenge in his eyes. “Plus, I’d like to see what you come up with that can beat the Celestial Record.”

Sorey’s expression went from bashful to indignant in an instant. “H-hey! I know nothing beats the Celestial Record, but I can still take you on the best date you’ve ever had!”

“Hmph. We’ll see about that.”

“Alright, you two, stop flirting,” came Rose’s voice from behind them. “Give the kids a turn, Sorey, we need to get going.”

Sorey jumped off Mikleo's lap like he’d been burned and glanced back at the long line he’d completely forgotten about. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I didn't mean to keep Santa all to myself.”

“Did you just ask him out?” a child suddenly piped up. “Are you allowed to do that?”

Another kid chimed in. “Yeah, Santa can’t pick favorites, right?”

“Is Mrs. Claus okay with this?”

Before Sorey could make a move to answer or even run away, a hand grabbed his, effectively keeping him in place. He glanced over to his side and, to his surprise, Mikleo had gotten out of his seat and come over to stand beside him.

“I think Santa deserves a Christmas present too, don’t you?” Mikleo told the crowd with a soft smile on his face. “Besides, I’m filling in for my uncle who’s still at the North Pole. I’m sure he doesn’t mind.”

From inside the cabin, Lailah suddenly shouted, “Mrs. Claus approves!”

Murmurs of acceptance rippled through the crowd. Sorey paid them no heed—his eyes were glued to Mikleo, who had taken both of his hands and was now clasping them between his own.

“I’ll see you at the party then,” he whispered, squeezing Sorey’s hands gently and giving him a quick grin. “Or sooner.”

Then he let go and walked back to his chair, leaving behind a dumbstruck Sorey whose feet only began to work once Rose grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.

“So? Do you like what you’re getting for Christmas?” Rose asked, biting back a smile.

Sorey nodded slowly, still staring at Mikleo as they drew further and further away. “Yeah,” he breathed. “I really do.”

* * *

Extra:

“Twenty bucks for the photo,” Edna deadpanned, waving a Polaroid just out of Sorey’s reach. “No cash, no sale.”

“Aw, come on Edna, make an exception for a friend!”

She stuck up her nose. “Rose is my friend. You’re just a background actor. A lackey.”

Sorey placed a hand over his heart, pouting. “That stings, you know. I thought we were friends.”

She met his forlorn gaze for a few seconds, then heaved a huge sigh—even _she_ couldn’t resist those sad eyes. “Fine, ten bucks. I’ll accept no less.”

He cheered and handed her the money, taking the Polaroid from her outstretched hand. When he glanced at it, however, his face fell.

“Edna! My eyes are closed in this one!”

“Well, you know what they say.” Edna shrugged. “You snooze, you lose.”


End file.
